Sept. 7, 2007 -- There is more incentive to get an annual flu vaccine for
kids: It can make life easier on parents, researchers say.

If you have children 6 months to 5 years old, they're due for their yearly
flu vaccination, and new research shows that those flu vaccines may mean fewer
trips to the doctor's office.

The CDC recommends yearly flu vaccinations for children who are 6 months to
5 years old. It's just about time to make that appointment, since the CDC says
October and November are the best months to get vaccinated (though you can
still get vaccinated in December or later).

Last year's flu vaccination won't do. Experts make a new flu vaccine every
year, based on the flu strains they expect to be most common in the upcoming
flu season.

A new study shows that if half of the 18 million children in the U.S. who
are 6 months to 5 years old got a flu vaccine, the number of children in that
age range hospitalized for flu during that flu season would drop by about 2,250
kids and up to 650,000 fewer children would see doctors for flu.

A more effective vaccine would further cut hospitalizations and doctor
visits, write Elizabeth Lewis, MD, and colleagues in the journal
Pediatrics.

Lewis worked on the study while with Vanderbilt University's medical school.
She now works in the pediatrics department of MassGeneral Hospital for Children
in Boston.

She points out that vaccinating children against flu may also benefit people
who spend time with kids.

"I'd advise parents to have their children vaccinated to protect their
own health, the health of grandparents and other family members, and the health
of other children they are around," Lewis says in a news release.

Of course, yearly flu vaccinations aren't just for kids. The CDC also
recommends yearly flu vaccines, which are the single best way to protect
against flu, for the following groups:

Pregnant women

People aged 50 and older

People of any age with certain chronic medical conditions

People living in nursing homes or other long-term care facilities

People living with people at high risk of flu complications

People living with or caring for children less than 6 months old

Health care workers

Anyone else can get vaccinated against the flu as long as they're at least 6
months old and don't have any medical reasons not to get vaccinate.